We all know the importance of a ‘why’. For individuals and organisations alike, clarifying purpose is essential as a way of orienting goals and strategies, unifying teams and incentivising action. Many organizations have attempted to answer the ‘Why do we exist?’ question by crafting vision or mission statements, but these are all-too-often a concoction of policies, practices, strategic aims and goals. True driving purpose, however, is more fundamental, long-term and even philosophical than these things.

Years ago, I released a book named Memento that took me way out of my comfort zone. Unlike my previous nonfiction business books, Memento was for a completely new market and required an entirely different approach. It was a giftbook journal featuring a series of questions designed to prompt parents to write down their life stories as a keepsake for their children. Ten months after signing a big publishing deal with Chronicle Books in San Francisco, my family and I packed up and headed to the U.S. for a PR tour leading up to the book’s release.

While the media flurry took the predictable form of radio and print interviews, one appearance that popped into my PR calendar intrigued me. It was to record an infomercial on the Home Shopping Network. When the day of filming arrived, I caught a plane to Fort Lauderdale in Florida. At the airport, I was met by a driver who whisked me straight to the studios for hair and makeup. Little did I know how fascinating the experience would be.

Since the advent of ChatGPT last year, few things have dominated the public discussion in the tech and business world more than generative AI and chatting with robots. This comes as no surprise considering how genuinely revolutionary the technology is and radically fast the uptake has been within the public.

Comparing ChatGPT’s success to other major companies gives some indication of how monumental it has been. Within 5 days it had reached 5 million users – for Netflix, acquiring this customer base took 3.5 years.

However, ChatGPT is not even the tip of the iceberg when compared what else is out there and what else there is to come. There are over 11000 AI apps built on language models like ChatGPT, which successfully achieve tasks all the way from planning logistics to creating artworks.

In an age dominated by constant, tech-powered connection, it would seem that the last thing we need more of is more time spent together – especially at work, and especially in person. Having spent the first two years of the decade rapidly adjusting to remote work and adopting the tech solutions that made this possible, dragging ourselves back into cities and workplaces can feel like time and energy wasted.

Across the board, organisations are changing. Post-pandemic workplace practices, changing tech trends and generational shifts are impacting the way organisations must run and respond to the world. Local governments are not exempt from the trends dominating the workplace and the world at large, which represent a whole new set of opportunities, or threats, for those paying attention.

Here are 5 trends local governments need to watch.

In an era increasingly defined by scandal, hypocrisy and betrayals of public trust, customers are increasingly holding corporations to high standards of integrity. Businesses and brands can no longer afford to cut ethical corners, fall short of marketing promises or fail to practise what they preach. In an age of skepticism and transparency, what customers are craving from their companies is congruence.

In order to build the trust and rapport with customers that has been so often compromised, businesses and brands need clear sets of values that they are committed to upholding. Without clear values to guide conduct and culture, it’s easy to lose our way, lose sight of the things that really count and subsequently lose the trust of those who matter most.

Between writing students’ essays, synthesising information and creating meal plans, ChatGPT is taking on a new role, getting involved in our dating lives. A growing number of individuals are using it as a kind of wingman for the digital age to up their game in talking to tinder dates and crushes, but for some the chatbot itself is the object of the romantic pursuit.

Upon discovering its ability to replicate a remarkably human written tone, many have been asking ChatGPT to supply them with pick up lines and poems that they can use to woo their Tinder matches. Despite anticipating rejection, one man reports using a poem as the opening message for a match: ‘Got her number back in less than an hour’.[1]

Within an economy increasingly characterised by precarity and uncertainty, the growing class of creators represents an alternative approach to money-making to traditional employment. Largely driven by Gen Zs, who are increasingly turning away from conventional career paths and towards options with greater independence and flexible, the creator economy continues to work its way into the mainstream.

A kind of gig economy for digital spaces, the creator economy involves those individuals who are using online platforms to publish and monetise content. Posted on platforms like Instragram, TikTok, YouTube, Patreon and Substack, the content of the creator economy is as diverse as the creators producing it. Whether through subscriptions, brand partnerships or advertising, creators are able to generate income through the appeal of their content.[1]